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Eban, Katherine. Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Nearly 90 per cent of all pharmaceutical drugs are generic. While doctors say these drugs are as good as those that are brand name, Eban exposes the lies that live at the bottom of this assertation. She shows that the generic drug industry is full of fraud, deceit, and falsified data.
Gawande, Atul. (2014). Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books.
In Being Mortal, surgeon Atul Gawande talks about the limitations of physician care and our health care system in healing physical ailments. Human morality is an issue that has to be confronted and many times our medical system doesn’t know how to deal with it.
Hathaway, A.D. (2015). Drugs and Society. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Challenging students to think critically about issues surrounding drug and substance use in Canada, this text explores the many ways in which perceptions of drug use are socially constructed.
Herie, M., & Skinner, W. (2009). Substance Abuse in Canada. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
This book presents the latest research, surveys, and interview data on substance abuse, taking into account Canada’s regional differences and demography. It describes the models used by experts to explain substance abuse and addiction, and evaluates the various social policies that exist.
Kalanithi Paul. (2016). When Breath Becomes Air. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Paul Kalanithi is at the brink of fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a neurosurgeon. But at the age of 36 he is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Facing his own death coupled with his intimate knowledge of the medical system, he attempts to come to terms with what it means to be alive and at the mercy of a medical system that can’t always heal ones health.
Raphael, Dennis. (2011). Poverty in Canada: Implications for health and quality of life. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press Inc.
This is an excellent treatment on poverty in Canada and its implication on health and quality of life. Section three is entirely devoted to health and quality of life. This book can be considered a companion volume to Social Determinants of Health, written by the same author.
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. (2017). An American Sickness: How Health Care Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
This book takes a unique look into the inner workings of the American health care system. Rosenthal sees the key problem with the dysfunction of the system as companies trying to make a profit on medical care. While also diagnosing the problem, Rosenthal provides a practical outlook on how families can make the most of our medical system without spending a fortune.
Tepperman, L., Albanese, P., Stark, S., & Zahlan, N. (2013). The Dosteovsky effect: Problem gambling and the origins of addiction. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
A decade of Dostoevsky’s adult life was consumed by gambling, yet the reason behind his startling dependency has remained largely unknown. In comparing Dostoevsky’s life with the experience of modern-day gamblers, documented through in-depth interviews and written biographical accounts, a team of leading sociologists have uncovered the Dostoevsky Effect. This model proposes that social factors—especially childhood trauma and a poor ability to deal with adult stress—are often the cause of gambling addiction rather than, as some have argued, an inherited predisposition to wager.
Tepperman, L., & Wanner, K. (2012). Problem gambling in Canada. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press
New research presented in this book demonstrates that gambling is an addiction and a public health issue. This short overview shows how many aspects of gambling have remained constant throughout history. More recently, however, the Internet has expanded the range of ways people can gamble, and has drawn many younger people into online betting. The book also evaluates the role social and cultural forces play in gambling, often glamorizing and encouraging risk-taking. As gambling increases, so do its associated problems; while it may appear harmless at first, gambling too often destroys lives.
Recommended Videos
China’s Web Junkies: http://youtu.be/jqctG3NnDa0
In China, the government stated that Internet and cell phone addictions are the top health threat to teenagers. In Beijing the government has set up a treatment center for men addicted to the internet.
How Addiction Changes Your Brain: http://youtu.be/5f1nmqiHIII
An interesting medical discussion on CNN about how addiction changes human brain.
Second Life: Gaming Addiction: http://youtu.be/9jcFS3bOIR4
Gaming addiction is another problem of addiction among teenagers.
The Science of Pornography Addiction: http://youtu.be/1Ya67aLaaCc
This documentary presents a discussion on the science behind pornography addiction.
What Doctors Don’t Know About the Drugs They Prescribe: https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_what_doctors_don_t_know_about_the_drugs_they_prescribe?referrer=playlist-what_doctors_worry_about
In this Ted Talk, Ben Goldarce, argues that many findings of drug trials don’t get released to the public and medical professionals. Goldarce states that without full disclosure of all of the data collected through a clinical trial, industry is corrupting the health system.
Recommended Websites
Canadian Centre for Addictions http://canadiancentreforaddictions.org/
A program of rehabilitation for addictions offered in Toronto.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health www.camh.ca
The CAMH provides valuable information including data/statistics about addictions and mental health issues. The web site includes research reports and interactive videos.
“Women, gender and mental health and addictions,” Canadian Women’s Health Network www.cwhn.ca/en/node/41856
This site features a special report on women, gender, and mental health and addictions. It further provides a number of studies conducted on addictions in Canada.
World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
Obesity is an alarming problem around the world. The World Health Organization looks at statistics and facts on obesity.